


Reading in Bed

by Dardrea



Series: Threads of Gold [4]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV), Rumbelle - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Mentions/implications of BDSM relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-25
Updated: 2015-01-25
Packaged: 2018-03-09 00:36:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3229607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dardrea/pseuds/Dardrea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Belle picks up some new books and brings them home to share with Rumpel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reading in Bed

**Author's Note:**

> This is set in [Threads of Gold](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2627510/chapters/5862002), some time between chapters 6 and 8. Nothing explicit happens in this fic, though future activities are implied. I was just thinking about the books that Lacey found in Gold's bedroom in chapter 8 of Threads and I had this image of how they got there that I thought was cute, and I wanted to write it down. Belle's such a nerd and I love that about her (she's also smart--be like Belle!). You don't have to read Threads for this to make sense. (Also, I know I'm posting this on Sunday and I think it's pretty fluffy, but this is NOT this week's Sunday Fluff--that's Fire and Frost Wyrms and it's already up.)

Belle scampered up the porch steps and shoved the door open with a little more force than she meant to, out of breath and almost dancing with excitement at what she’d found.

“Rumpelstiltskin?” she called, nudging the door closed with her hip.

It seemed he’d been checking on something in the oven—something that smelled delicious. She paused for one moment to inhale and appreciate again the fact that he actually enjoyed cooking and was so decidedly good at it. Having clean-up duty most nights was no hardship when the reward was home-cooked gourmet meals prepared by a perfectionist and a hedonist—not to mention a man who was part of the clean-as-you-go school of cooking anyway. She’d tried to get into cooking, she really had, but most of the time when it was her turn to take care of dinner they ended up with take-out from Granny’s.

As he turned from the oven to the counter that separated the open living room and dining area from the kitchen she ran to meet him. They both leaned forward for the kiss, the counter between them, and though she wouldn’t let herself gush, the easy intimacy of their relationship still thrilled her.

It was all so new and different than it had been in the dark castle. They were partners here, equals. She wasn’t a noblewoman or a servant, she wasn’t a business deal or even a maid in love with her master, she was just a woman in love with a man who loved her back and no longer hesitated to tell her so, no matter what other issues faced them.

He glanced down at the stack of books she’d set on the counter and cocked a brow, taking in the shiny covers and unmarked edges. “You’ve been to the bookstore.”

She was only disappointed—if not surprised—that he hadn’t commented on the subject matter. He could still be...shy.

She patted the top book. “Did you know this is a…a ‘thing’ here? There are books about it! Not just stories but books of instruction on different things to do and how to do it all safely and things to use and how to take care of each other after and during. There are _shelves_ of books about it!”

He hummed a non-committal sound but his eyes were slightly…brighter.

She divided the stack, the top three books for him, the bottom four for her. There was a hand wearing a black glove and holding a riding crop over a fuzzy beige background on the cover of his top book. There was a pair of handcuffs on a swath of red satin on the cover of hers.

“We can read them and then trade and compare notes.”

He laughed then and she pouted, but he tugged her around the counter and into his arms for a deeper kiss.

“Yes, Ms. French. I promise I will start my homework right after dinner,” he said with a smirk.

She grinned and stroked his cheek and chin. “That sort of thing is in the books too,” she told him, tapping the end of his nose.

He rolled his eyes and reached behind him to snag her apron from the island in the center of the kitchen. “In the meantime, _Belle_ , you can start on the dishes. I need to finish making a cake.”

“Cheesecake?” she asked hopefully.

“Get started on the dishes and you’ll see,” he said with an answering grin.

~~~

A few hours later they lay side by side in his big bed—reading.

Belle nibbled her bottom lip, a highlighter in hand and a pencil on the comforter beside her.

“You know,” she said. “They keep recommending trying to find classes. They say that’s the best way to try out new things safely.”

He looked at her. “In Storybrooke?” His dry tone clearly told his opinion on that. “Who in Storybrooke do you think is going to be offering classes in this sort of thing? Maybe young Miss Lucas, after hours in the diner?”

Belle paused, thinking about it. “You have a point.”

He hummed and briefly lifted his own book off his lap, a book on assorted interesting knots and such that she’d suspected would attract him. “This one recommends looking up videos online. ‘Youtube’ can be an excellent resource, it says.”

“We’d have to get a computer,” she said.

He shuddered. There were aspects of their new world he adored and others he didn’t. Belle was probably less annoyed with technology than he was and he had thirty years of experience more than she did. Although he had cable there was only one TV in his house—in the living room—and he didn’t own a computer, even for his shop. With Storybrooke isolated from the outside world and hardly even aware of it for so long he’d been able to hold out. “Couldn’t we use the library compu—”

She gasped, affronted. “We couldn’t use city property to look up—I mean…what if someone…what if _Regina_ found out?” It was her turn to shudder.

He slipped his arm around her and kissed her shoulder. “I’ll get a computer,” he promised.

She nibbled her lip again.

“I can pay for half.” She didn’t make much at the library but then she didn’t have many expenses either. Her apartment had come with the job and she spent most of her time at his place.

He snorted. “I can afford it.” Then he sighed, glumly. “I suppose I could probably use it for my business. It might look good on the counter if the curse at the line breaks and we start having out-of-town visitors. Appearances and what not.”

“Alright,” she said slowly, rubbing her shoulder briefly against him and thinking she'd come up with some way to reward him for being forced to purchase the hated device, before they both returned to their reading.

~~~

A bit later she sneaked a sideways glance at him. He seemed to be quite involved in his book, brow furrowed, occasionally mouthing words or muttering to himself. It reminded her of the way he’d poured over his ancient tomes and scrolls in the dark castle. She’d appreciated that studious side of him; it was nice that he could get as lost in a book as she could.

She pursed her lips and elbowed him lightly in the arm. He blinked at her, brows lifted in inquiry until he caught the gleam in her eyes and the twitch at the corners of her lips.

He grinned, white and gold, and shut his book. “Why Ms. French. Is study time over already?”

She giggled. “I do believe it might be time to put the books away—Mr. Gold,” she said, reaching for him as he reached for her.


End file.
